this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2025
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[–] themaninblack@lemmy.world 9 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

For a nation with half of all citizens owning guns, it’s amazing that there isn’t more pressure on politicians to implement a universal healthcare scheme.

Lone wolves tend to target schools and workplaces.

It will always remain baffling to me that no rogue widows or widowers, by consequence of the system, don’t bring their grievances to those in charge of healthcare policy.

[–] emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works 3 points 19 hours ago

It will always remain baffling to me that no rogue widows or widowers, by consequence of the system, don’t bring their grievances to those in charge of healthcare policy.

I think last year someone did. And like the heroes from the old Western movies, (s)he vanished into the sunset, never to be seen again.

[–] P1k1e@lemmy.world 6 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

I mean as cool as this is, it's exactly the story the right uses to oppose it.

Non tax paying, non citizens getting subsidized healthcare. A conservative horror story for the ages

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 6 points 18 hours ago

Conservatives are bad people and they should be prohibited from making policy decisions.

[–] Taldan@lemmy.world 3 points 19 hours ago

I have a similar story that works much better:

When I lived in Japan, I cracked a rib. Went to the doctor, got an x-ray, and a follow up appointment. Total cost to me, with insurance, ~$50. Cost without insurance (e.g. a tourist) would have been ~$160

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I have a friend who is a doctor and technically speaking Americans should get charged for medical treatment and then their insurance should pay for it, after all they are not citizens and don't pay taxes. But no one seems all that clear on how to actually bill them so it almost always never happens.

The American system is so batshit crazy that no one else from any other country knows how to interface with it.

[–] vala@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 19 hours ago

No one from the US knows how to interface with it either. It's a giant unnavigable mess.

[–] lukaro@lemmy.zip 2 points 21 hours ago

No shit, our president has a horrible aversion to the truth and shit rolls downhill.

[–] boaratio@lemmy.world 59 points 1 day ago (7 children)

American here.

We were taught in grade school that Europeans lived longer because of the Mediterranean diet they ate. They could eat good bread and drink red wine and out live us Americans.

Turns out it was universal healthcare. We'll never get it here, and we'll die earlier and poorer because of it.

[–] elbiter@lemmy.world 2 points 19 hours ago

Well, both are true. Apart of the traditional diet, European food regulations are solid and put consumers health above corporate benefits.

American food is almost as awful as American healthcare.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Only people who live in the Mediterranean eat the Mediterranean diet. Frankly just because it's better for you doesn't mean it's going to make you live longer necessarily it just won't make you live shorter. And maybe they won't have to make a special spherical coffin when you do die.

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[–] untorquer@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago

Not to mention they don't live their lives in morbid anxiety over getting sick or injured. So that's years more of life just by not being stressed and being able to think clearly.

[–] MithranArkanere@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago (3 children)

The mediterranean and athlantic diets also help. But to have them you also need better quality foods, which are also worse in the US with all the derregulation.

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 day ago

And walking

[–] boaratio@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

Excuse me while I eat my super processed pringles, and wash it down with a super sugary drink.

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

with all the derregulation

yeah it's a part deregulation but also the fact that US produces food in giga-farms in technical processes (like corn syrup and petroleum cheese) while in europe you have a whole lot more smaller regional farms which drives up the quality dramatically i believe. like, i think you probably won't find something as good as french mold cheese in the US, simply because there's not really any producers there. correct me if i'm wrong btw.

oh and also the fact that you need patience to really enjoy the food. if you're always in a hustle (grindset), you won't enjoy food anyways so there's no point for food producers to produce better quality food if nobody appreciates it...

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[–] Aneb@lemmy.world 25 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Insurance is just a scam to keep people enslaved to jobs for their premiums and coverage. If only quality care wasn't tied to employers' insurance we might actually have competition back in the market. Have better products and a livable state of life. As someone on Medicare I can't afford a 400% increase to my premium after tax credits are slashed in the coming years. Socialism is at least a band aid to our monolithic oppressive capitalist economy.

[–] ShittDickk@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

Its just privatized socialism, where the rich get subsidized by the poors who have it but cant afford the minimum and co pays to actually use it.

[–] k0e3@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Wtf? Do Americans not buy travel insurance when they leave the country?

[–] TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 7 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (1 children)

it's too expensive.

you forget, for Americans to leave the USA they are often spending $1000s on plane tickets. a ticket to my friends in Toronto is usually $300 for a cheap flight, average cost is closer to $500. Hotel for a 3-5 nights is another grand almost. Travel insurance is another 10% on top of all of that, or more.

[–] k0e3@lemmy.ca 1 points 19 hours ago

Thousands?? I didn't realize it was that expensive for you to go to Europe. Is it like some kind of export tax you guys are charging yourselves because I had always assumed you guys can fly for cheaper due to the sheer volume of flights.

Even from Vancouver to London, it looks like it's less than $600US. I live in Japan right now and I'm headed to Germany next week, which is costing me $1000 ish per family member and I think I have to pay for insurance to be able to stay in the Schengen area.

If you ever find a cheap flight to Okinawa, hit me up and I'll treat you to a beer!

[–] MehBlah@lemmy.world 36 points 1 day ago

My daughter was in Ireland and had a problem that would have cost her a minimum of four thousand in the US with insurance. Her cost was 75 euros. They apologized for it not being complexly free.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 18 points 1 day ago

Yep

And they've been lied to not only about healthcare

They've also been lied to about work)life balance, about taxes for the rich, about cars and bicycles, about...

The US has become w cesspool over the past 5 decades basically because everyone there has been lying their asses off and nobody cared to force people to be truthful about anything

A good press could have stopped this tide but that's gone since long ago too

[–] SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 47 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (9 children)

I live in the Netherlands. If I visit the hospital I have to pay my yearly deductible of €350 first. This person paid zero dollars because her travel insurance paid for it.

The Netherlands has the same system as Obamacare. Privatized insurance with government subsidies for low income. Only difference is that the government sorta acts like a single payer, they negotiate with big pharma over medicine prices and the government with the insurers make a price list for healthcare providers on what they can charge.

Of course a healthcare provider can decide to charge whatever they want but then insurance won’t cover that business.

[–] themaninblack@lemmy.world 2 points 21 hours ago

Only recently did the United States start treading into monopsony territory when it comes to healthcare funding. Specifically the cost of a certain small list of medicines.

Of course, those gains have been reversed by the shift in political winds, but there is a potential for this policy to expand in the future.

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[–] Asafum@feddit.nl 88 points 2 days ago (4 children)

BuT bUt BuT tHe TaXeS!!

... I can almost guarantee the taxes are still less than the lost direct compensation from employers that instead goes to your insurance "benefit." :/

[–] Zorg@lemmy.blahaj.zone 61 points 2 days ago (7 children)

Last I checked the US spent more than any comparable country on healthcare/capita, roughly twice the OECD average.
And, they have to deal with medical bankruptcies, using Uber instead of ambulances, insulin rationing, and whatnot

[–] Kanda@reddthat.com 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

It's the least effective system, but at least it's not ~~communism~~ ~~socialism~~ a system where tax money is used to cover human rights

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[–] TheJesusaurus@sh.itjust.works 26 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Did you guys think we were just all collectively lying to you about this shit?

Hey, Grammy's cancer bill just came in and it's 1 million euros, tell the Americans it was free though.

I'm financially destroyed but at least I can make fun of Americans

[–] Zink@programming.dev 16 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Pointing out that "free" healthcare is actually paid for by somebody is seen as a killer gotcha in the conservative world. They assume that as soon as somebody learns that they are paying money into taxes that benefit other people, they will also flip out and fight tooth and nail to stop it.

Keep pushing and they might hit you with another zinger, like how the US is not a democracy, it's a republic! 🤯

[–] SaraTonin@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Here’s a fun fact, though…people in the US pay more in taxes towards healthcare than we do here in the UK. And then they have to pay on top of that.

It’s almost as if having an entire for-profit industry acting as middle-men doesn’t lead to the best value for money.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthcaresystem/articles/howdoesukhealthcarespendingcompareinternationally/2016-11-01

Despite less than half of the USA’s total healthcare expenditure coming from government expenditure or compulsory insurance schemes, it still spends more per person on these financing schemes than the UK- £3,111 in the USA in 2014, compared with £2,210 in the UK.

[–] TheJesusaurus@sh.itjust.works 4 points 21 hours ago

Fun fact, not just the UK but in fact every single nation on planet earth.

That is correct, as a portion of GDP Americans pay a higher portion of tax into healthcare than any nation on planet earth by a significant margin, before anyone ever pays a cent privately.

America is also the only industrialised nation on earth, the only member of the G20 who does not provide some form of cradle to grave medical coverage for all citizens

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[–] borQue@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Americans are so afraid of communism that they forgot the good things that it can bring. Capitalism on the other hand...

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's not communism it's just social responsibility. The medical services aren't free they are paid for by society.

It's just that your value to society is not prejudiced by some corporate overlord before you're allowed to get your medical treatment.

Americans are so afraid of communism that they jump at shadows. It's almost impossible to forward a progressive idea without being accused of being some evil communist. It's kind of amazing the country has managed to get to 250 years without imploding

[–] okamiueru@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I can't remember the last time I've heard someone use the term communism or socialism correctly.

He was murdered by communism

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[–] aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone 26 points 2 days ago (1 children)

yeah, but that's socialism. I'd rather have socialism with a middleman and pay 30 times more!

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[–] yarr@feddit.nl 9 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Sounds like COMMUNISM to me!

As an American, I'll gladly support the world's greatest economy by paying a few thousand to get checked out. Know why all these European countries are so poor? Because their health insurance and private health care companies barely make anything.

Do your part! Contribute to the economy!

God bless America!

[–] elucubra@sopuli.xyz 14 points 1 day ago

Actually, private health companies make bank. Where I live, public health care is top notch, but you may have waiting lists, or have to share a room, and things like that. Private companies often provide more immediate appointments, single hospital rooms, certain diagnostics on demand, etc. Quite a few people either pay to have those plans, or their employer does. This is on top of public health care, not instead. You can have your cake and eat it too.

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[–] lowleekun@ani.social 15 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I mean if fascism isn't enough of an incentive to leave a shitty country i don't know what is.

You are not getting healthcare before you do your homework (a revolution deposing your oligarchs).

[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Lots of people can't leave. Be it because of finances, or their skill set not being needed to get a visa in another country

Unless countries start to recognize the situation in the US as asylum worthy, there's not much one can do to leave the country

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[–] TragicNotCute@lemmy.world 43 points 2 days ago (18 children)

I naively expected that all of Europe had health care figured out. The bullshit $450 USD bill I got in Sweden for existing in the same room with a doctor for 15 minutes taught me otherwise.

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